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Fort Hood Suspect Paralyzed; 9/11 Suspects to be Tried in NYC; Mexican Drug Lord Makes Most Powerful List; Tropical Storm Remnants Cause Travel Up Coast; CNN Hero Helps Abused Girls in Zimbabwe; U.K. Asks NATO to Boost Troops to Afghanistan

Aired November 13, 2009 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MELISSA LONG, CNN ANCHOR: Tony, nice to see you. Have a superb weekend.

HARRIS: You, too (ph).

LONG: Trials of the century, a tired old phrase gets a bold new meaning as five alleged 9/11 conspirators are making their way to federal civilian court.

And in Manhattan, more troops for Afghanistan, but not from the U.S., at least not yet. The U.K. calls on NATO to put more muscle into the fight.

And a grief-stricken mother seeks help for her dying son from his father, a priest. And from other priests who paid for the silence.

Right now, President Obama is en route to Singapore, nation No. 2 on his four-nation tour of America's Pacific Rim partners. He's traveling from Tokyo, where he and the new Japanese prime minister discussed the world economy today, nuclear proliferation, also, U.S. Marines on Okinawa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States is a Pacific nation, and we will be deepening our engagement in this part of the world.

As I said to Prime Minister Hatoyama, the United States will strengthen our alliances, build new partnerships, and we will be part of multilateral efforts and regional institutions that advance regional security and prosperity. We have to understand that the future of the United States and Asia is inextricably linked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LONG: Now President Obama also said he'd be honored to someday visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki but doesn't have any immediate plans to actually do so.

Which does bring us to the story we're going to have a little bit later in the hour. CNN's Kyung Lah meets Japanese survivors of the nuclear attack that helped end World War II and, of course, had a horrifying cost. One hundred thousand allied troops in Afghanistan, not enough troops for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He's asking for some big- time backup from NATO nations and even beyond. His goal: 5,000 more NATO troops in the war zone. Now Germany is already boosting its manpower, committing more than 100 soldiers.

The international call to arms comes as President Obama's pondering whether or not to put more American boots on the ground in Afghanistan.

And the allies are certainly watching closely. What will President Obama do? He said today he's going to be making a decision soon.

Chris Lawrence is on the ground in Kabul, and Candy Crowley's been tracking developments for us from Washington. We're going to check in with both of them, coming up at the half hour.

And he allegedly carried out last week's ferocious rampage at Fort Hood. An accused murderer 13 times over and may now never walk again. Ed Lavandera broke this news to CNN. He is in Texas, where the alleged gunman is talking to his family and, of course, his attorney.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nidal Hasan spent an hour meeting with his attorney Thursday afternoon, and it was the first time that Hasan had come face to face with any family member since last week's massacre here at Fort Hood. And it was also the first time that that family member learned that Hasan will likely never walk again.

COL. JOHN GALLIGAN (RET.), HASAN ATTORNEY: He's not ambulatory. He's paralyzed, at least from the waist down. And my understanding is that there's no immediate likelihood that that's going to change.

LAVANDERA: The attorney says that Hasan struggles to speak. His speech is garbled and sometimes very difficult to understand. And that Hasan became very tired quickly during the hour-long meeting yesterday in San Antonio.

The attorney also says that Hasan does have feeling in his hands, but that it's extremely painful at this point.

He will not say which family member came down to visit with him, but he will say that their brief moments together were extremely emotional. And also the attorney described the scene around the ICU room where Hasan is being treated. He says that flow in and out of that room is tightly controlled and that there are three or four guards standing by around the clock.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Fort Hood Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LONG: Now, she has been called the hero of Fort Hood. Credited with chasing down the gunman and opening fire to stop the rampage. But now that the dust has settled, what really happened? Wolf Blitzer's getting some answers from Sergeant Kimberly Munley herself. That's at 5 p.m. Eastern in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Returning to the scene of the crime. Admitted 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and four of his alleged co-conspirators are heading for trial in New York City, and in a federal courthouse just blocks from Ground Zero. Objections, of course, began as soon as the story leaked, which was hours before the formal announcement came from this morning, in fact, from Attorney General Eric Holder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We are charging them with the most serious offenses that are appropriate, and we are, as I indicated, seeking the most serious punishment. As I said, I expect to ask for the death penalty when it comes to the prosecution of those five individuals. That is, I think, an indication of how serious I view these cases, how consequential their -- how negatively consequential, their actions were, and how ultimately they must face the ultimate justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LONG: For more on this developing story, we turn to CNN's Jill Dougherty which joins us live on the line to help push this story forward.

And Jill, a lot of people probably wondering why a civilian courtroom instead of a military commission?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Well, Melissa, the -- let's look at the Guantanamo detainees in general. I mean, how many are there? We just spoke to a senior U.S. official who ran us through the numbers. And I'd like to look at those.

You've got 215 detainees. And 25 of them have already been transferred. How does that break down? Well, there are nine to their home countries, and then 16 to third countries. That includes France, Belgium, Bermuda, Portugal, Ireland and Palau.

We're told that the highest priority is those who are not enemy combatants.

And then you have another 90 who have been approved for transfer. That breaks down into 40 who will be transferred to a third country, and they have some commitments, about 25 commitments, on those people. And then you have 50, five zero, who will be going to their home country. Most of those are Yemenis.

And just to give you an idea how complicated it gets, the Yemenis basically can't go home, because there is a conflict in their -- in their country with insurgents.

In any case, the attorney general, Eric Holder, admits that it's going to be very hard to reach President Obama's deadline of closing Guantanamo by January 22. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLDER: I think it's going to be difficult to close the facility by January the 22nd. And one of the things that I think is most problematic in that regard is trying to relocate the people who are going to be approved for transfer, finding places where they can be safely placed, both for the nation that will host them and for the Americans -- for American citizens.

I'm not sure we're going to be able to complete that process by January the 22nd. Though we are constantly in the process of trying to do exactly that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: Yes. So, they're talking to other countries and trying to get places for them, but the issues there are the same as in the United States. The (AUDIO GAP)...

LONG: Jill...

DOUGHERTY: ... legal and security.

LONG: All right, Jill, not sure of our connection right there. I do want to ask you another question as you're talking about the number of people being transferred. Of course, the home countries involved. Security is a paramount concern.

DOUGHERTY: It is. It's a concern not only in the United States but in the countries that potentially these people could go to. We just spoke with a person from one of the countries, where they're being held. And he said, it's the same. Legal issues. Security issues. And then, you know, could they have ties to the country? Perhaps that might help.

But you have to say, the highest priority are those who are not enemy combatants. But you've still got about 100 people who are really in limbo. Their fate hasn't been decided. They could end up in court. So it's a slow, laborious process.

LONG: With more on this story, thanks so much Jill Dougherty. That's foreign affairs correspondent, Jill Dougherty, out of Washington.

Now issues with Gitmo said to be really the driving force behind the resignation of White House counsel Greg Craig. He's been the point man for president's plan to close the Guantanamo prison camp by the end of January. He's been blamed for a political firestorm that's pretty much made the deadline impossible to meet.

Craig will be replaced by Bob Bower. He worked for the Obama campaign.

Pablo Escobar could be very proud, maybe very proud. Mexican drug lord, following in the Colombian's footsteps, making it big with the folks at "Forbes" magazine.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: She suffered an unspeakable crime, and now she is speaking out, giving a voice, giving hope, to others. She is not a victim anymore, and she is our "Hero."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: Back in 1993, when this picture was taken right there, things looked bad for this Mexican drug lord. He'd just been arrested, shipped off to prison. What a difference 16 years can make.

He escaped, got back into business, and just landed halfway between Osama bin Laden and Oprah Winfrey in the "Forbes" power poll. Here's our senior editor for Latin American affairs Rafael Romo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR EDITOR FOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS (voice- over): His name is Joaquin Guzman, better known as El Chapo, Spanish for Shorty. Mexican authorities say he's the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, which controls most of the cocaine smuggled into the United States from Northern Mexico.

The 52-year-old drug lord is in the news once again after becoming No. 41 on the list of the most powerful people in the world on "Forbes" magazine, ahead of presidents Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Dmitry Medvedev of Russia. His fortune, estimated at $1 billion, also put him on the list of the richest people in the world a few months ago.

His status sheds a light on Mexico's drug problem. The country's war on drugs has killed 11,000 people since December of 2006, when current president, Felipe Calderon, took office.

REP. LORETTA SANCHEZ (D), CALIFORNIA: With the Mexican government engaged in a violent struggle against these well-armed drug cartels, frequently resembling advanced military units, the United States and this Congress cannot ignore our role in assisting our neighbor and ally in this fight and, of course, in preventing that violence from slipping into the United States.

ROMO: In a bold move, the Mexican government announced a $2 million reward for information leading to the arrest of each of 24 drug lords whose criminal organizations terrorize the country. Joaquin Guzman is wanted by Mexico, the United States and Interpol, and the U.S. is offering $5 million for his capture.

Part of the problem, according to analysts, is that local police in Mexico are infiltrated by the drug cartels.

MARTIN BARRON, MEXICO SECURITY ANALYST (through translator): We are talking about an infiltration level that goes beyond 60 percent of police departments. That's when we talk about local police.

ROMO: Mexican authorities have acknowledged the problem and say that they are working to root it out. In northern Mexico, and at the U.S. border, Ciudad Juarez is the epicenter of drug violence. A group of businessmen is asking the United Nations to send peacekeepers in a desperate effort to reduce killings in a territory they call the war zone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LONG: Rafael Romo joins us now with more on this fascinating story.

And the U.S., Mexico obviously have a lot of work to do together. This is a very big problem, a very expensive problem.

ROMO: A very expensive problem. It's creating a lot of commotion around the border, many deaths. In Ciudad Juarez alone, 2,000 deaths so far this year. It's a very big problem, not only for Mexico but also for the United States.

LONG: OK. Well, what about the threat to the United States? When you look at Juarez, what is it like in Juarez, and essentially, help us to understand that threat?

ROMO: Specifically when you talk about that city, you're talking about a transit point sought after by three very powerful drug cartels. They are fighting right now over territory. And they are trying to establish their presence there so they can use their city exclusively for their own purposes as a transit point to the United States.

So, it is in the best interests of both countries, not only Mexico, but also the United States, to try to do something to solve the violence problem in Ciudad Juarez.

LONG: Amazing his net worth in just 16 years.

ROMO: Do you know what really caught me? Is that he's more powerful than Oprah Winfrey on the list.

LONG: I know.

ROMO: That's amazing.

LONG: Pretty staggering. All right. Rafael Romo, nice to see you. Thank you. Appreciate it.

A lot of people just saying, "Please go away. Please go away, Ida." Certainly an unwanted guest that just won't leave. The remnants of a tropical storm moving up the Atlantic coastline, and you can just see the mess it's making.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: At least five deaths are blamed on a powerful storm that's pounded parts of the eastern seaboard for days now. Streets are flooded, beaches are eroding in the coastal area of New Jersey and New York state, the storm's winds and rain also took a very heavy toll in the Carolinas and in Virginia, where tens of thousands of people are still without power right now. Hundreds of roads, you can see them right there, underwater. This all stems from remnants of tropical storm and then Tropical Depression Ida, which as you know, made landfall Tuesday in Alabama.

Chad Myers is tracking the storm for us in the CNN weather center.

Chad, this is a storm that stalled out over Atlanta for days, and it just seems to be stalling as it travels up the coastline.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. And some of the flooding that you're seeing there is salt water or brackish water that came up through the Chesapeake, up through the James, and then spilled back in, because the wind will be pushing the water back into those bays, Melissa.

Oceania, Virginia, 75-mile-per-hour wind gusts, even Cape Henry at 72.

So, how did it stack up? Well, this storm, Ida, came in across the Gulf of Mexico. It was a Category 2, 105-mile-per-hour hurricane for a while, down by Cancun, then died off and came up into Georgia. Our winds were 20, 30. It rained a little bit.

But then all of a sudden, the high pressure and a low pressure -- the low pressure got close together, and the winds really picked up. And that's what we've been seeing across the East Coast.

Airports: Newark, LaGuardia, JFK, two, three, four hours behind. What you need to do today is get to the airport as early as you can, not as late as you can. Get to the airport early and see if the previous flight is still there and see if you can get on it, because your flight may be three hours late.

LONG: And pack a lot of patience, as well.

MYERS: And a book.

LONG: All right. Any recommendations?

MYERS: I am reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" or something like that.

LONG: OK.

MYERS: It's about how you're not supposed to eat all this corn stuff.

LONG: OK. I'll add to it my reading to-do list. Thanks, Chad.

MYERS: OK, sure.

LONG: Top stories for you right now if you're just turning on the television this afternoon.

The suspect in the so-called house of horrors case in Cleveland was back in court this morning, a case not related to his murder charges. Anthony Sowell pleaded not guilty in the sexual attacks that led to a search of his home. In that search, police discovered 11 bodies. Right now, he is charged with five counts of murder in the case. From Phillip Garrido, a jailhouse apology. Garrido is accused of kidnapping Jaycee Dugard and holding her captive for 18 years in his backyard in California. She was 11 when she was abducted. In a handwritten letter sent to television affiliate KTRA-TV, Garrido says, and I directly quote, "First off, I want to apologize to every human being for what has taken place."

And success for NASA and its "shoot-the-moon" mission. A pretty cool story. NASA says the craft that was intentionally crashed into a lunar crater last month found the very best evidence yet of water. That finding from studying debris kicked up by the actual crash.

A safe haven. Hope for a better future. Betty Makoni has given both to hundreds of girls in Zimbabwe who have been sexually abused after she was abused herself as a child. Makoni founded the Girl Child Network, and she is one of our top ten "CNN Heroes" of the year. Joins us now live from London.

First off, congratulations.

BETTY MAKONI, FOUNDER, GIRL CHILD NETWORK: Thank you, Melissa.

LONG: Absolutely. We are looking forward to talking to you, finding out a little more about your organization. And this has certainly become your life's work. And I understand it dates back to when you were teaching more than a decade ago, and you saw a need to help these young girls.

MAKONI: Yes, I saw the need to help the young girls because they were dropping out of school. They went missing in the school system, so I went out looking for them.

LONG: Well, they were often missing because they were becoming very young moms. That was one of the problems. And this all ties into the virgin myth, the so-called virgin myth, in Zimbabwe. Help us to understand what that is.

MAKONI: The virgin myth came because people were desperate for HIV and AIDS cure. And they think, by extracting the blood of the young girl and mixing it with certain herbs, the virus goes away. So, a lot of children has gone on to be raped, including a day-old baby.

LONG: A widely-held belief in Zimbabwe, if a man with AIDS or HIV rapes someone who is young, rapes a virgin, then he will be cured of AIDS. And this is a problem that persists today, and you are trying to save the young girls.

Tell us how many girls your organization has benefited.

MAKONI: Our girls that have benefited 300,000 girls in terms of their empowerment skills. We have also rescued over 70,000 girls since 1998.

But my statistics are showing that 45,000 girls have passed through our girls empowerment program (ph) in terms of reinstatement in schools, dealing from rape, and also ensuring that they are protected from abuse.

LONG: Protected from abuse. And for those that are abused that they know they can get help and live very fulfilling lives because I understand, Betty, you weren't able to get that help. You were silenced as a little girl.

MAKONI: When I was 6 years old myself and other nine of my friends, we got raped by one man, who thought that raping girls would make him rich. Out of all the ten girls who were raped in the neighborhood, I'm the only one who came out to be a powerful woman. So, this is also dedicating my life to all those girls and myself who never got (UNINTELLIGIBLE). The same should never happen again.

LONG: Well, Betty, you've dedicated your life to helping so many people, and now you are getting a very important honor. Congratulations, one of our CNN nominees for "Hero." Thank you so much, Betty. Safe travels from the U.K. to the United States for the important ceremony, OK?

Thank you, Betty, congratulations.

MAKONI: Thank you, Melissa.

LONG: And to find out Betty Makoni and her life's work, and to vote on our top ten "CNN Hero" finalists, go online to CNN.com/heroes. Plus, we encourage you to watch our all-star tribute, hosted by Anderson Cooper Thanksgiving night. That's only on CNN.

More troops to Afghanistan, but the commander in chief isn't the one making this call. An American ally pushes to build the ranks. Will it influence President Obama's battle plan?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: When it comes to deciding U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, maybe you're wondering what's the hold-up? President Obama says expect a decision soon, but Britain wants to boost allied troop numbers now.

CNN's Chris Lawrence is live on the ground in Kabul, and senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, is gauging the reaction in Washington.

First let's go to Chris. Candy, then we'll get to you.

First, Chris, some very, very big decisions ahead.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Melissa. The German government has now promised another 120 troops to the fight, but they've got a national cap at about 4,500.

This increase, these 120 troops that will be coming in January, that gets them up over 4,300, so they're at about the very limit of what their national government has authorized.

But the British prime minister has said that he thinks he can get another 5,000 troops from other NATO countries. The Brits themselves have already pledged another 500 troops. But it remains to be seen where the bulk of that number will come from.

Canada, Finland, the Netherlands have all either said they're going to withdraw troops or have set a date for withdrawal. And other countries, such as Italy and Norway, although they're going to maintain troops, their troop levels, they have said there are no plans to increase them at this time -- Melissa.

MELISSA LONG, CNN ANCHOR: All right. So, the troops from Germany, the troops from the uk or Italy, talk to us about the assignments that these troops have. Do they all have the same task?

LAWRENCE: No. And that will be another big issue. You know, even if you get these 5,000, the big question is, what are they able to do? A lot of these nations have what's called caveats, meaning the commander on the ground comes up with a mission and he says, OK, I need this many troops to go out and do this. Sometimes the individual troops -- these nations will come back and say, well, you know, we can't fight in that area, or we can't go that far from the base or we don't fight at night. It makes it very hard to put some missions together. In fact, this coalition, the international security assistance force, it's called Isaf, but, you know, lot of u.s. Soldiers say isaf really stands for "I Saw Americans Fighting" they use it as a derogatory terms that, you know, they feel like a lot -- some other nations just aren't pulling their weight.

LONG: All right, Chris Lawrence for us live from Afghanistan. We want to get back to Candy now. Big allies waiting for some cues from the White House. But the Commander in Chief says the priority in Afghanistan is getting it right. So, again, our Senior Political Correspondent, live for us from Washington. When, Candy, you look to Germany deciding to increase the troop levels by 120 according to Chris Lawrence. You look at the commitment from Gordon Brown, what type of pressure does this put on President Obama?

CANDY CROWLEY, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think this is actually less putting pressure on President Obama than giving him at least something to say, and others are helping out as well, you know, whether it's Japan is giving money to this effort in Afghanistan or Britain is willing to send this many more troops, so it does give him an argument to sort of internationalize this mission in Afghanistan. But I think Chris is on to something that most Americans feel, and that the way they felt in Iraq, of course, and that is -- that this is still largely a war fought by Americans.

That many of the troops do come in, and they're in roles that are not combat roles or they have specific things that my country, they don't want to do. And what you don't want, either tactically or back home in terms of politics, you don't want the americanization of a war that very much already looks like that. So, whenever you have a country stepping forward saying, well, we can send this or we can do that, I think it helps the president, even if it's so minute that you might -- it might not make any difference, it certainly gives that picture that others are on board as well. LONG: Candy, as we all know, the president is traveling right now in Asia on his diplomatic, one-week trip, but en route to Tokyo, the president had a refueling stop in anchorage and had a moment to speak with the troops at Elmendorf Air Force Base. I want to share brief comment of the president had with his spoke to the troops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But if necessary, the United States of America will have your back. We'll give you the strategy and the clear mission you deserve. We'll give you the equipment and the support that you need to get the job done, and that includes public support back home. That is a promise that I make to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LONG: An important promise and you also have to look at the assignments. We were talking a moment ago with Chris Lawrence about what the tasks, what the assignments, would be for the troops. So, you have to look at the role. Is it a support role or a combat role?

CROWLEY: Well, at the moment when we can clearly see what is going on a day-to-day basis, it is a combat role for those there. That what the generals and the people on the ground have asked for is more combat troops. What is interesting to me about what the president said there was the part of we're going to have your back. And that means public support, too. And that is key to what the president is putting together now. Even now, on his trip, at a news conference, he said that he was still going to take his time on this decision about Afghanistan, because he did not want it to seem like a, quote, "open- ended commitment." That is the key to getting a public support that the president is promising those troops.

If I send you in Afghanistan, it will -- you will have the support of the American people. We all know if a war does not have American support and there are u.s. troops involved, it cannot last long. Right now the president is facing polls showing that the majority of Americans do not favor the war in Afghanistan. That the majority of those who oppose it are democrats, so it's a political party-base thing for him as well. And what he has to do within this strategy, it can't just be, I decided to send 30,000 troops in the following four places, it has to be, and here's what they're doing and, by the way, here's when we expect to get out. There has to be that exit strategy, and I think the president dropped hints in Elmendorf and I think he dropped hints today that that was he was looking for someway to see that the American people, stick with me, this is not Vietnam, I will get us out of this because that's how you would get public support for this.

LONG: And those hint again, President Obama traveling in Tokyo saying expect a decision soon. Candy Crowley, thank you so much. Nice talking to you.

CROWLEY: Sure. LONG: And the war in Afghanistan usually brings tonight, allied is clashing with Taliban fighters, but on the streets the less visible victims? Children without joy and now a shift. And a few smiles. A back story that hits home. From our own Atia Abawi.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: Imagine one sneeze after another after another. And they don't stop. Too many "bless you's" for a little girl in Virginia to count. Lauren Johnson has been sneezing nonstop for a couple of weeks now.

LAUREN JOHNSON, CHRONIC SNEEZER: Every one is different, and I just kind of got along with it. Thinking that it wouldn't last this long. But it's been two weeks now, and it hasn't stopped.

LONG: You may be wondering, how does this constant sneezing happen? How rare is this? Is there any hope for Lauren? Here's CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Well, it is a pretty amazing video to look at, and if we look at it again, there are a couple things worth pointing out. First of all, she's obviously sneezing a lot, several times a minute, thousands of times a day, and she still looks like she's doing all right. I mean, she doesn't look like she's having trouble breathing or really getting on. As a doctor, there are a couple things worth pointing out.

First of all, she's not sneezing while she's sleeping. That's really important. If they were a true pathological process within the body, something that was irritating her sinuses, for example, the sneezing would probably continue even as she was trying to sleep. Also, the sneeze does not appear to be a particularly productive sneeze, so it's not like she probably has some sort of irritant to sneeze out either on her lungs or in her sinus or something like that. And that's two things are really important. And I think it sorts of starts to take this out of the realm, is there something happening within the body to whether or not there's something happening more psychogenically. So, there's something known as psychogenic intractable sneezing and it is rare for sure. Only about 40 cases are even documented around the world.

A lot of people think of things like ticks or tourette's and that's worth pointing out as well. When you think about those sorts of things, the entire treatment is different. So, for example, the treatment here might be something approximately more on the psychogenic sort of aspects of this. Either certain medication for anxiety for depression. If behavioral therapy for example doesn't work. The other thing I was thinking of is that, it's going to be harmful for her in any way. Obviously it's greatly impacted her activities of daily living. She's not going to school. She's unable to do things she normally does, but overall it probably really isn't going to affect her body. I mean, if she were having trouble breathing, that would be one thing.

If this were to continue on for a much longer time, she might start to develop pain, either in her upper lungs, even in the rest of her body, getting a pins and needles like sensation that has been described before. But my guess is, my hope is, that she will get some treatment, hopefully be able stop the sneezing that's been going on for a few weeks now. Back to you.

LONG: Thank so much, Sanjay.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

Nine/Eleven suspects facing justice, blocks from ground zero. The government said five Guantanamo bay inmates with alleged 9/11 ties will face trial in civilian court in Manhattan. They include the alleged mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

The accused Fort Hood gunman may never walk away. His lawyer says Major Nidal Hasan is paralyzed from the waist down and his doctors told that his condition might not improve. Hasan has charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in last week's deadly shooting rampage.

And is this the last we'll going to hear of them? Don't bet on it. The Colorado couple at the center of the balloon boy hoax pleading guilty today. Richard and Mayumi Heene will face probation impossibly in jail time.

The wounds of Nagasaki survivors transform horror to hope for a world without nuclear weapons.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: President Obama says the U.S. is a Pacific nation. And the U.S. and Japan are equal partners. Tokyo, number one stop on the president's four-nation tour of Asia. Next stop, en route to Singapore for a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group.

It's a mouthful.

Spread of nuclear weapons, how to stop it. It is also on Mr. Obama's agenda overseas, as it is every minute of every day in Obama, Japan. It's a real place. A section of Nagasaki where the wounds of the past are a living legacy of hope. This story with CNN's Kyung Lah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sixty-four years ago, Sengi Yamaguchi's world exploded. I was outside when the atomic bomb fell, he says.

This was Yamaguchi at age 14. He was near the epicenter in Nagasaki. His upper body ravaged by the radiation from the American bomb. The image he can't erase all these years later, the children burnt and dying.

Since that day, Yamaguchi has repeated one prayer, that humanity will never again feel the flames of a nuclear bomb. He's 79 and suffering from radiation-induced organ failure. But Yamaguchi is hopeful his prayer will be answered, after hearing this speech from President Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act. I state clearly and with conviction, America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: The promise of peace resonates among survivors here in Nagasaki...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The still waters of peace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Peace.

LAH: ... whose average age like Takashi Miyata (ph) is more than 70. He was 2.5 kilometers from the epicenter in 1945 and fled with his family on foot to where he lives now. And where he tells the young about his childhood.

(on camera): The bombing survivors who live here also feel a connection to the American president by location. Just by coincidence, this part of Nagasaki happens to be named Obama.

(voice-over): President Obama's hope of a nuclear-free world turned coincidence to pure adulation. It is an odd connection, coming to life in caricatures of Obama all over the section of Nagasaki prefecture.

(on camera): This is the epicenter.

TAKASHI MIYATA, ATOMIC BOMB SURVIVOR: Yes. No more (INAUDIBLE) Nagasaki.

LAH (voice-over): Miata even wore an Obama shirt under his kimono as he gave me a tour of where the bomb fell.

(on camera): You remember where the bomb fell.

MIYATA: Yes. I remember. I hope never again.

LAH (voice-over): Time is running out for people like Yamaguchi, who urge President Obama to make good on his promise.

We victims are dying, he says. When we're gone, it will be difficult for people to remember the cruelty of the atomic bomb. 70,000 people died instantly in Nagasaki. 140,000 in Hiroshima. Tens of thousands more in the days that followed.

Those who survive are left to preach the horror and pray history will not repeat itself.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Nagasaki, Japan. (END VIDEOTAPE)

LONG: Pushing forward. The father, the son, and the holy secret. An incredible report by CNN's Gary Tuchman on a priest, faithful neither to his vows nor his duties as a dad. So, why did the church keep him on and pay his lover off?

Also ahead, diseases -- they do not discriminate. We know that. But they do sometimes affect people disproportionately. One city's suspicions about swine flu now playing out across the country. Could you be at risk? And not know it?

H1N1 has hit Italy hard. Affecting routines in ways you might not expect. One sign of the times, Catholics making a sign of the cross, but skipping the church's water.

Well, enter this guy. The inventor found a solution. It is holy, it is high-tech, it is hands-free. It is an automatic holy water dispenser. So, instead of dipping your finger in a flu-filled fount, you just set off the sensor. Churches apparently all over the country are installing them. I think it's fair to say this Italian inventor has a blessed bank account now.

Journalists covering the war in Afghanistan. For CNN' Atia Abawi, it's much more than an assignment. Her family's roots are there. She's looking back, and we're going to bring you the story. The "Backstory. "

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: We bring you the heartbreaking scenes from Afghanistan, and every journalist who has covered the war has seen them. Children living on the streets, women being abused. Those scenes are especially gripping for CNN's Atia Abawi. Her roots are in Afghanistan, and she talked to this gentleman next to me, Michael Holmes about her experience reporting there from Afghanistan. He joins us at this time, every Friday. Part of the "BackStory."

And it must be fascinating for her to go there, have a moment to come back to the United States, decompress and really reflect on everything she's watching.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN'S "BACKSTORY": And as you said, her roots are there, and not everyone knows this, but Atia's parents are Afghan. They were there in (INAUIBDLE) when Atia theoretically left Afghanistan, she was in her mother's womb. Her mother was eight months pregnant when they fled prosecution in Afghanistan. This is when the communists came in and took over. This is well before the carrot (ph) problems.

And they fled to Germany and then moved to the U.S. where atia was born and raised. And when Atia comes back here -- of course, she was on with Kyra yesterday talking about the situation in Afghanistan. The back story side of it is to have a look at what it's like for her to be there. And it's an interesting look, too, so here's our little chat. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It is the first story that we worked on, and it was a child that was just miserable. And I had been thinking about her for six months, just thinking what happened to her, especially seeing the street kids out in Afghanistan. You see it on every street corner that you go to, every street that you're on. It brings -- if you're not strong enough about it, it will bring tears to your eyes because you don't see children smiling in Afghanistan.

You stop at a DVD store, and we're walking out, and these two little girls screamed, "you were at our house." And it was (INAUDIBLE) two little sisters.

(voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) remembers us, and I can see that she's wearing a new jacket, a donation from her sponsor.

(on camera): I'm just so happy to see them, their smiling faces. I hope the camera was able to catch it sometimes, because they'll get kind of shy and hide. But when the camera is off of them, they have these smiles that are just so unique to them. And it's something that gets ingrained in your mind, and I can speak for a lot of journalists when I say that when you go on these stories, these people stick with you. They don't go away, no matter how many other stories you work on, You think about them all the time. They touch you.

HOLMES: You're still in touch with them. You don't sort of forget about something like that. You still think about them?

ABAWI: Absolutely. I think they're surprised every time they see me, they keep thinking I'm going to forget about them. But it's hard.

I just asked her if she gets tired going up this hill all the time and she said "No, I'm used to it."

HOLMES: Doesn't hurt that in your position, you speak Farsi as well. Do you ever get people a bit surprised when you just come out and start speaking the language, that they realize that you literally speak their language?

ABAWI: Yes, let's just say that some guys aren't the nicest men in the world there, and they will make certain comments thinking that, "She's a foreigner, she won't understand what I'm saying," and then I snap at them, "Watch your mouth! I speak Farsi." And they get scared and they back off a little bit.

But at the same time, it's helpful, because the women in Afghanistan -- they're more reluctant to talk to journalists, particularly men. So, when I start speaking to them, whether the camera is on or off, they'll open up and tell me things they want me to share with the world but they're too afraid to say on camera because they may get in trouble by their families.

HOLMES: That heritage is important to you, and I made Atia, bring in a some photographs so we can have a look. We have a couple of the old photographs of the parents there.

ABAWI: I was born in Germany. This is when, we spent a year in and this was the family in Germany. My brother was around two years old when they left Afghanistan. They had a very interesting story on how they were able to leave because they had to leave with pretty much nothing because then the communists would have known, and they would have been stopped.

HOLMES: They were escaping persecution, yes?

ABAWI: Exactly, the communist government did not very much like their - parents, actually because they were both generals during the king and the president. This is my dad at work in Afghanistan, a completely different place, lovely tie.

HOLMES: Great hair.

ABAWI: Great hair, fantastic hair. He'll be happy to hear that. The side burns like any other country back then. This was my mother and her niece in Afghanistan. As you can see, no burqa, no head scarf. It was a different life then and this was their wedding day.

HOLMES: Oh, wow, yes.

ABAWI: Lovely bow tie.

HOLMES: I'm wondering, like you -- when you first got this assignment to go and work out of the bureau there and the first time that they saw you on air -- first of all, what did they think about you going and what did they think when they actually saw you dolling what you do?

ABAWI: Like every parent in the world, they're worried. I'm sure your parents have worried many times. They were worried, but they're proud at the same time. The places I'm seeing now, they may be the same places that they saw then, where they went to school, the places they went to work, but it's definitely a different land.

HOLMES: The beauty of the country -- it's been years since I have been there, but that's the one thing that really stood out to me. It's a beautiful place and you do try to show that too.

ABAWI: It's absolutely stunning. Afghanistan -- we went to a national park, the first national park in Afghanistan and Mary Rogers, the camerawoman from Cairo, was in Afghanistan at the moment. I felt like a kid again, she felt like a kid again. We went paddle boating in the middle of a lake in Afghanistan, which I never thought was possible. But hopefully one day it will be possible for anybody who wants to be a tourist there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LONG: You don't expect to be able to paddleboat there in Afghanistan. Some beautiful sights, really neat to have her story, her "BackStory." It's interesting to see how she's able to communicate in her interviews because she's so well spoken in different languages. She doesn't work 24/7, though. What is life like for her when she's not on the clock?

HOLMES: It's hard, you know. And during -- when things are bad in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, and I know this personally -- you don't get to go out, because it's too dangerous. In Afghanistan, in Kabul now, some Westerners can go out to certain areas where it's reasonably safe to have some fun. Her enemy is the time distance between U.S. (AUDIO GAP). She's live, so she never goes out, she says. You never get to go. Sometimes people come over for a drink, but that's it.

LONG: All right. Not too much fun.

All right. Really interesting to hear her story, fascinating of course. I want to remind everybody they can find out more about Michael Holmes and the work in the "BackStory," just go to our Web site, CNN.com/backstory.

Thank you.

President Obama's goal for the war in Afghanistan: getting it right. He says he wants the right plan in place before putting more American troops in the war zone. And he says that plan includes an exit strategy.

But, while the president preaches patience, his biggest ally issues an international call to arms. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants 5000 more NATO troops in Afghanistan. Now, Germany is already boosting its manpower there by more than 100 soldiers.

So what is President Obama saying to critics pointing at a ticking clock?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK H. OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I recognize that there have been critics of the process. They tend not to be folks who, I think, are directly involved in what's happening in Afghanistan. Those who are recognize the gravity of the situation and recognize the importance of us getting this right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Right now, there are nearly 65,000 American troops serving in Afghanistan. The top U.S. commander there is asking the president for as many as 40,000 more.